all you need is something like a railroad tie ... facing east/west ... and then putting the pots on the north side of it.. and lining them all up tight .. the tie shading the first row .. the next row shaded by the first row of pots ...

sounds like you are trying to throw the checkbook at it.. when i bet you can dream up a simple solution outside the box you are firmly seated in ....

i dont know if you would get long term adhesion with paint on the vinyl plastic.. whatever pots are really made of ....

ken

three posts.. and a 6x2 or 8x2 ... by how ever many feet???

a double height line of retaining wall blocks???

a row of sunflowers .....

line up some logs from that tree you cut down ....

I have been involved with the nursery industry - both wholesale and retail - for almost 30 years and I have never seen white nursery pots. Nor do any suppliers I am familiar with sell them. And I also live in the land of countless wholesale growing operations and they all use black plastic pots set out in full open sun all day long. And often on heavy duty black landscape fabric to keep weed growth to a manageable level. So they can't heat up that badly otherwise there would be massive crop losses due to this phenomenon!

Personally, I wouldn't be overly concerned about it - the professionals sure don't seem to be. I would be more concerned about the soil media you are using and the ability to water as often as necessary. And using appropriately large sized containers for what you are growing on.

And rather than lining them out in a row, you can cluster the containers similar to what you can do for winter protection in milder climates. The less surface area of the container that is exposed to direct sun, the less it will heat up. You may just need to rearrange the 'clusters' on a periodic basis.

Ditto what gg said. I had a small container nursery (11 acres) for several years in very hot coastal SCarolina. Most of the stock was grown directly under the blazing sun, even the young liners and transplants. The only limiting factor under those conditions was the amount of water.

In all my days of attending conferences, conventions, and merchandise shows when I worked in the nursery industry, I don't think I ever saw any white commercial containers.

If appearance doesn’t matter and you really want white how about food grade plastic buckets?

i think i have seen proven winners in white pots ... and i THINK the pot itself was the patent payment .... if you have a local nursery who sells them.. maybe you will find them in the recucle bin????

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=proven+winners+in+white+pots&t=ffcm&iax=images&ia=images

if you have excess pots ..... you could also just fill a row of extra plants with soil .... place them east/west.. and line out pots with plants behind them ....

and by line out.. i meant what gal suggests by using the word cluster ... with a gob of pots .. only the ones south facing.. are hit by hot sun .... and then.. only the ones on the edge ... those surrounded by other pots are shaded by others ...

i am sure growers care about water management ... which technically this topic is .... but they are working on such a scale.. relative to the home grower ... that minimal losses are part of the cost of doing business ... but for them.. a lost dozen or two is CODB ... where if i lose 2.. i am POd .... cost of doing business for them ..... blistering failure for me.. lol ...

ken

anyone else have trouble .. while typing.. with the sentences moving themselves around ...???

https://www.amazon.com/Panda-Pots-50-Plant-Succulents/dp/B00WR0FUS8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1536758763&sr=8-3&keywords=white+nursery+pots

https://www.amazon.com/T4U-Plastic-Succulent-Container-Planter/dp/B01ENMB4OQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1536758798&sr=8-4&keywords=white+nursery+pots

https://www.amazon.com/BangQiao-Plastic-Nursery-Seedlings-Container/dp/B06WVLV3GM/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1536758798&sr=8-15&keywords=white+nursery+pots

Here are three examples. I just went to Amazon and searched "white nursery pots". A lot came up. Of course colors were included also, mostly white. Just depends on what you want to pay.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=white+nursery+pots&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Awhite+nursery+pots

I can't even post.

ETA; I included a link to the big online company that starts with an A. Search white nursery pots.

I guess that company is on the no-no list. They had a lot in all sizes.

I found some plants that were planted in white gallon nursery pots here in Mechanicsburg PA. Not sure where they might have came from though. Proven winners sometimes uses them also, if memory serves.

If you mean Amazon, yes they have white pots. But only one or two choices out of the two pages are actual nursery pots and they are only of seedling size. The rest are all decorative. Decorative white pots are easy to find :-)

Proven Winners pots are proprietary - you can't buy them. So one would be forced to resort only to those one would find being recycled. Not very pratical for a grower.

I didn't notice a size wanted. What got me is if I posted a direct link to Amazon, it would not post.

gg, "Proven Winners pots are proprietary - you can't buy them."

Why doesn't that surprise me!!! LOL!

IllSSTEP, I did see white ones that weren't PW, No markings...I saved them.

ALL branded containers are proprietary and not for sale - Monrovia's olive green pots, Endless Summer's bright blue and the Proven WInner's white ones, Evison clematis floral print. etc.

Alibaba?

yeah I think not finding white pots is ridiculous . I bought several white married ones years ago nice ones finally they cracked but haven't seen them since. that was back in the city then. now in rural area the local nursery sold me pots the bg 25 gallons but all theirs are black too . they have behind their main building

Wow, thanks for all the feedback!

GG and others, do commercial growers take steps to shade their black plastic pots from direct sun?

The Proven Winners pots are great, but since they are not for sale, I have to rely on leftovers. I did manage to get a bunch of 3-gallon pots from a local landscaping company, but no luck on 1- or 2-gallon pots so far.

Ken - thanks for the suggestions about shading the pots. I may try that.

"GG and others, do commercial growers take steps to shade their black plastic pots from direct sun?"

No. As I stated in my original comment, these pots are out in the open, in full-on, all day sun. The only ones that might get some shade are those that contain shade loving plants.

Interesting. How is that not detrimental to the plant? Those containers heat up like crazy when the sun hits them.

In production, does container size tend to be large in relation to the root mass? Would extra media between the root mass and the hot container walls provide any temperature regulation?

Does evaporation of water from the media provide cooling?

Target had plastic pots in a nice off-white color this summer. A lot of sizes from 6" or so up to like 24" or more. You do have to do the hole-drilling yourself. They were on clearance a few weeks ago so mostly gone from my area but maybe they have some where you are?

If you feel you would benefit from having white pots, I often buy garish colored plastic pots from WM and spray paint them a stone color, and they hold up very well. You could try painting some of your nursery pots white and see how it works for you.

Carl E. Whtcomb In Plant Production in Containers: "High temperatures in containers are frequently blamed for poor growth of container nursery stocks during summer. Media in black containers exposed to direct sun may reach temperatures in excess of 120F during midsummer.” He then gives examples where few, if any roots develop on the sunny side of the pot, while roots on the opposite side are healthy.

I spray paint my pots white. I use paints formulated for application to plastics. The paint has adhered well to most of my pots.

These are my el cheapo pots painted to blend with the stone and concrete wall and planters. Some of them were painted years ago and only require an occasional touch up if the paint job gets scratched when they are set inside the concrete planters. They’re a perfect fit. Can’t remember the brand, would have to look at the can but it was about $4 or so and painted several pots with good coverage.

Saypoint, those look very nice. May I ask, were those clay pots you painted, or plastic, or a mix? If something can stand up to an East Coast winter, that is saying something.

Could the spray paint have been a kind of Rustoleum? I believe there are quite a few kinds. I’ve never used them and am interested. Thanks!

Growers do have issues with black nursery cans and heat but it's only the first South facing row that's really effected and the rest of the plants in the block are fine. I just lean cedar fence boards up against the sun facing row.

You can even see the stunting in the blocks of plants pretty easily.

The reason why nursery cans are black is that the uv inhibitor that is added to plastic is carbon black and it turns everything black since it's basically soot.

The pots on the ground are cheap plastic pots that were lime green. Painted with Rustoleum 2X camo paint. All from WM. I originally used them as inserts in the concrete planters, and they stayed outside all winter with no problem for years before needing touchups. Bought more this year to pot up fall containers for the concrete planters and smaller ones for overflow annuals.

"Interesting. How is that not detrimental to the plant? Those containers heat up like crazy when the sun hits them."

I think it depends where you are, but here in the middle of AZ if I leave a plant out in the sun in a black pot at any point after May, it's toast within a few hours. I either keep most plants on the patio where they only get morning sun, or use white plastic sheets for the ones that need a little more sun.